In Short, Zack
by LadyNightRunner
Summary: Inside the head of one SOLDIER First Class and well-known hero. Don't worry, there's plenty of space, just watch your step.


Yay for themes! Read and Review, folks, I'm taking requests for these as well as actual stories!

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1. Starlight**

There isn't a lot you can see when there's no moon, even with Mako enhancements, but the stars are enough to show him the way home.

**2. Four of diamonds  
**A little practice has taught Zack how to hide an entire deck of cards on his person, one card at a time. For reasons unknown, the four of diamonds is usually the one people find first, no matter where he puts it.

**3. Path of sin  
**Ma always warned that being a soldier of any kind would only lead him to terrible things, but he thinks that a little sin for the greater good is worth the price.

**4. Words  
**"Q-U-I-N-C-E, with a double letter score on the Q and a triple word score under the C. 81 points for me."

**5. Strawberry jam  
**Everything is better with jam on it: toast, brownies, Sephiroth, nasty allergy meds, and nacho-flavored chips.

**6. Green tea  
**A botched bet ended in Zack's being forced to attend a tea ceremony with Tseng and also in his developing an inexplicable taste for the stuff.

**7. Blossom  
**When spring comes, employees of ShinRa cower, for here comes Zack, the prancing, flower-throwing fairy of the season.

**8. Chrysanthemums  
**"Puppy?"

"Whud?"

"Here. Until they clear the flowers out."

Zack snatches the box of allergy medication from Angeal, gives him an exuberant kiss on the cheek, and bounds off to find a glass of water.

**9. Illusion  
**Zack smiles all the time. Someone has to, after all, and he has gotten fairly good at hiding his moods behind it.

**10. Eyes  
**"Aww, lookit your eyes! You're just a big kitty, aren't you?"

Thus, General Sephiroth met Zack Fair.

**11. The endless and faraway sky  
**Something he was taught by Angeal: whenever you feel like you are unstoppable, pause and look up. The sky goes on forever and you can never touch it. Therefore, there is always room to improve. Or to screw up. Whichever.

**12. Impossible; stubborn  
**"I am _not_ getting a haircut!"

**13. Gravity  
**A law to be bent and broken with unsettling regularity.

**14. Vaseline  
**There is a jar of it on his bathroom counter, opened regularly to treat chapped hands and lipstick stains.

**15. Photograph  
**When the team dragged him away from the reactor, they missed one thing: a picture torn from a photo-booth strip, worn and soft around the edges. The frame is full of body parts belonging to Zack and the two SOLDIERs he crammed into the booth with. Silver hair, black hair, and big hands turn the image into something bordering on abstract, but it is all natural and full of life.

**16. Celebration  
**Any excuse is enough for a party.

**17. Falling leaves  
**"Why are we doing this?"

"Because if you rake the leaves, then you get to jump in the piles later."

"And this is a good thing?"

"You have _no_ idea."

**18. Walking on air  
**A sure sign that he has a new girlfriend.

**19. Shining  
**The day Zack's eyes started to show the Mako glow, he proved that, while Angeal was still roughly a hundred pounds heavier and five inches taller than him, it was still possible to tackle him and ride him to the floor if he had a running start.

**20. A bit of color  
**There are only two things that bring even a touch of color to Zack's face: embarrassment, and fever. Thankfully, it's usually embarrassment.

**21. Wireless  
**Note to self: _Do not use emoticons when texting my superiors, at least during work hours._

**22. Nightingale  
**"Florence Nightingale you are not. Get that away from me, puppy."

"But-"

Angeal sniffled and gave Zack a _look_.

"No garlic."

**23. Wish  
**Just like dreams, chanting the age-old rhyme to a star at night is something Zack will never give up on.

**24. Daybreak  
**A time of day Zack would rather not see quite as often as he does.

**25. Midsummer moon  
**He spent several hours sitting in a small-town jail, snickering at his brilliance, until Angeal came to get him and tell him that his suggestion that Zack wait until warmer weather to go doing obscene, half-naked things in public had been sarcasm, not an invitation to moon the participants of a church picnic while they were out on assignment.

**26. Windy nights  
**Words of wisdom: _Watch the loudest, goriest movies on nights when the wind is howling. They drown everything out and the neighbors can't hear._

**27. Silver  
**"Just because you have hair like an old man doesn't mean you have to act like one, Seph. We're young and we're hot. Let's go clubbing!"

**28. Chestnut buds  
**_Bang_

"Oof! Puppy, what is it _now_?"

"There are buds in the trees outside the lobby doors! It's SPRING!"

Zack bounds away, leaving Angeal to sprawl on his bed and wonder where he put the dart gun.

**29. Secret joy  
**Bubble baths are the best thing ever invented, hands down. Just don't tell any of his gym buddies.

**30. Romance  
**Traditionally, on Valentines Day, Zack selects the worst bodice-ripper to hit the shelves in the past year and prances around the building, reading of heaving bosoms and throbbing manhood out loud to anyone unfortunate enough to get too close.

**31. Bubbles  
**"It's not a weapon, Seph, not unless you get it in someone's eyes. You blow bubbles for fun. Look, aren't they pretty?"

**32. Mirror; reflection  
**Note to self: _Sephiroth's sword is not to be used to check my hair. Especially not during battle._

**33. Who?  
**"Knock knock!"

"Not now, Zack."

"Knock knock."

"Puppy, I said not now."

_Bonk. Bonk._

Angeal snatched the empty pizza box from Zack's hands and swatted him with a rolled up magazine.

**34. Twice  
**As Zack can attest, getting chocobo pox a second time is miserable, and a good way to get laughed at.

**35. Snowdrop  
**Something about the tiny flowers that push through late winter snowdrifts inspired him to have one tattooed on his ankle- he can hide it from the people who won't see beyond the flower itself.

**36. Just like this  
**"You wrap your arms around them, and you hold them really close, and you stay like that for a little. There's nothing else like it."

"I don't understand."

He steps forward, pulls Sephiroth hard against him, and hugs him. There is a moment of stiff resistance, and then he melts into the embrace. Zack smiles.

"Just like this."

**37. Butterfly  
**Built for flight, colored for beauty, designed to be chased. Not edible.

**38. If  
**"Reno? Um…hey, just in case anything happens on the mission, you've…you've got my letter and the address, right?"

"Yeah. Like anything ever happens to you, though."

"But if it does…"

**39. Best of all  
**Every decent picnic needs burgers, barbeque, potato salad, fruit salad, steamed corn, pickles, brownies, Cloud, Sephiroth, Angeal at the grill, Reno, and, best of all, hand-churned ice cream.

**40. Three plum buns  
**He'll only eat them if they're from the little café in Xingtan.

**41. Chill  
**The joke is that he has a layer of invisible, intangible fur that keeps him safe from the chill of Icicle Inn, but really, all it takes is a little mind over matter and not stopping to let himself get cold.

**42. Riddle  
**Aerith taught him to like riddles, but Reno taught him the really tough ones.

**43. Blade of grass  
**Note to self: _Do not make grass scream when Sephiroth is on edge._

**44. You're as good…  
**"Heeey, Spiky! You're almost as good as me when I first started formal training. Way to go!"

**45. Shadow  
**When no one else is looking, sometimes he lets the shadows of the war and the deaths he has had a hand in fall over his face. But only when no one is looking.

**46. Loneliness  
**Zack doesn't understand how Sephiroth can go on, not really knowing his own family. It must be so terrible lonely.

**47. Deceit of the senses  
**Sephiroth looks like he's made of porcelain, but his skin is soft and warm when Zack touches it.

**48. Just waiting  
**Aerith stopped trying to get Zack to move on long ago. She knows why he hangs on.

**49. Flash  
**"Hey, kiddies!" He flings the trench coat open, and a whole platoon of cadets is suddenly exposed to the naked wonder that is SOLDIER First Class, Zack Fair. "Welcome to the company!"

**50. Vertigo  
**Apparently not a good enough reason for backpedalling like mad from the edge of the cliff.

**51. Honest mistake  
**"How was I supposed to know they'd eat your gloves? I didn't know puppies ate leather!"

**52. Lingerie; undergarments  
**Note to self: _Don't give gifts of lacy unmentionables until after the third date._

**53. Balance (yin-yang)  
**Zack supposes that he and Sephiroth are two sides of the same coin- his easy smile and good nature show a little in Sephiroth, and Sephiroth's dark humor and brooding manner show in him.

**54. Dash  
**He's gotten good at stealing the last slice of pizza at movie night.

**55. Impulse  
**"Puppy, that- I- you- never-"

"I was just wondering, I swear!"

Angeal wipes his mouth and shoots Zack a dark look before returning his attention to the movie.

**56. Crystal tears  
**Sephiroth's tears have a Mako taint, so that they look, to Zack- who has seen them more than anyone else on the Planet- like little drops of crystal.

**57. Farewell  
**Not that Cloud would have heard, but he ducked down and whispered a soft goodbye into Cloud's ear before he let Angeal take him.

**58. Sword dance  
**Sephiroth says swordplay is like music, but Zack thinks it's only that way for him. In his mind, it's more a kind of dance.

**59. Cosplay; fancy dress  
**Costume: three hundred gil. Sword: fifty gil. Makeup: fifteen gil. Seeing Sephiroth dressed up as Sesshoumaru: priceless.

**60. Chains; bonds  
**Everything was tense for a moment, like he was being chained down. Then he sighed, deeply, and the chains broke. He simply slid out of himself like he was shedding his skin. Below him, his body's eyes closed and Cloud screamed.

**61. Over-sized shirt  
**Like a girl stealing her boyfriend's clothing, Zack has several shirts stolen from Sephiroth. They are long enough for him to wear without anything else under them, and he enjoys lounging about the apartment like he's not half naked and wearing someone else's too-big shirt.

**62. Kohl  
**Late in the summer, when massive raves are formed on the wastes outside Midgar, Zack teaches Sephiroth how to make his eyes huge and shadowed, shows Cloud how to properly extend the corners of his eyes into a feline look that suits his small face, and draws hypnotic patterns spilling from his own eyes with the kohl he keeps specifically for this time of year.

**63. Desire  
**He sits to one side and sees the look burning in Sephiroth's eyes when he sees a small boy flying a kite with his father in a field their transport is passing. He doesn't say anything.

**64. Mistranslation  
**Apparently, the phrases Tseng taught him are not as innocent and useful as he made them out to be, because there are two angry waitresses screaming in Wutain and throwing things at him and all he did was ask about the noodle bowls.

**65. Street scene  
**A big guy like him can walk through any neighborhood without fear, because no matter how bad the place is, a SOLDIER is a SOLDIER.

**66. Between the sheets  
**Note to self: _Never, ever, _ever_ interrupt Angeal when he has a girl over. I never want to see that again, and I never want to be hung by my ankles from the top of the gym ever again either._

**67. Night will never stay  
**Late on quiet nights, Zack knows to leave his bedroom door open in case Sephiroth gets spooked by the quiet and needs a heartbeat to fall asleep to. He likes the closeness, but it never lasts long.

**68. Lullaby  
**"How can you sleep with this playing?"

Zack blinks groggily up at Angeal and smiles. Angeal looks very confused.

"Heavy metal's like a lullaby to me."

**69. Cobwebs  
**For some strange reason, his very incorporeal ghost body can get stuck on the very corporeal and unfairly sticky strands of spider webs.

**70. Castles in the sand  
**One summer, Zack took Sephiroth to the beach, and he conducted lessons in the building of sandcastles, the applying of heavy sunblock, the dangers of jellyfish, the wonders of tidepools, and the haunting cries of seagulls in the fading twilight.

**71. Divine image  
**He wonders what religious people would think if they knew the closest thing the Planet has to a god is five feet five inches tall and likes to wear pink and ribbons.

**72. Pebbles  
**A jar on Zack's desk is mostly full of pebbles. He picks up two at each fight he goes into, one before he fights and one after.

**73. Eclipse  
**One of those special times when Zack can grab Sephiroth and Angeal and drag them into the world, where they are real for a short time and can do things like pig out on pizza.

**74. Voice  
**How do you tell your best friend that you know he won't sleep with anyone or anything, but just hearing his voice at the wrong time is like having a hot chick rub up against you on the dancefloor?

**75. Candy; sweets  
**The secret behind his perpetual energy.

**76. Game  
**_Poke_.

"Hey!"

"Tag! You're it!"

"I don't have time for this!"

**77. Coin  
**Note to self: _Don't tell Seph about the arcade in Sector Five._

Note to self: _Find a new place to hide my quarter collection so Seph doesn't steal them. _

**78. Body art  
**Zack was not pleased to find that his ghostly body did not have any of his tattoos on it, and he complained until Aerith put them back on him.

**79. Shuffle  
**Wool socks+ carpet+ Zack+ shuffling circuits around the apartment+ unsuspecting victims= endless fun.

**80. Place  
**It hurts to know that there is a church where Aerith is remembered, and a plateau where his memory lives on, but there is no place to remember the man Sephiroth was before he went mad.

**81. Saké  
**Does not taste better on the way back up.

**82. Coyness  
**Sometimes, shy does not mean the girl has any desire to leave the bar with him.

**83. Pillar of strength  
**He did it because he had to, because who else was there for Cloud to depend on? Sometimes you have to hurt yourself to protect someone else.

**84. 72 hours  
**Sephiroth still hasn't forgiven him for making it evident that he had a 72 hour stomach virus all over the two of them during an inspection.

**85. Teaching  
**"See, and if you hit these two buttons at the same time, the character does a spinning kick."

**86. Heat wave  
**Zack does not like hot weather. At all. When the temperature starts to rise, he starts to spend a lot of time hiding in air-conditioned places.

**87. Spiral  
**He's never been one for math, but it's kinda cool how the inside of a snail's shell follows the formula for a Fibonacci Spiral.

**88. Virtual reality  
**At times, the way he's become part of the LifeStream makes the whole planet like some kind of virtual reality game.

**89. Utopia  
**Not the Life Stream, that's for sure.

**90. Vin rouge  
**Zack is a beer and shots kind of guy, but Sephiroth taught him to appreciate a good red wine.

**91. Endless love  
**Sephiroth doesn't understand why Zack keeps going back to guard Cloud when the little blonde is so good at getting into trouble. Zack doesn't bother trying to explain.

**92. Jealousy  
**Note to self: _Seph doesn't like sharing. Don't leave Cloud alone with him._

**93. Vanilla  
**He may be all white and pretty, but there's too much flavor under there for Sephiroth to be plain anything. Zack likes to think he'd more like…pralines and cream, or strawberry cheesecake.

**94. Russian roulette  
**Being friends with Sephiroth is like playing Russian Roulette with half the chambers loaded, but Zack has always had very good luck.

**95. Warmness on the soul  
**When he was alive, Zack didn't like the heat. Now that he's dead, he likes to bask in the sun, where he can feel the heat of it in his very core.

**96. Kimono  
**Sephiroth has the frame to carry a man's kimono. Zack looks like the comedic relief from some cheesy old anime.

**97. Explore  
**Note to self_: One good thing about being dead is that I can see all the places I never saw when I was alive._

**98. Ashes  
**He wanted to be cremated and scattered over the mountains of Wutai, so he could rest in the most beautiful place on the Planet.

**99. Clock  
**No matter what else he might be missing, Zack has never been accidentally late for a meal. You can set a watch by him.

**100. Joy doubled, sorrow halved  
**Yeah, so he was dead. It sucked, but it was made better, first by being taken away by Angeal, and then being met by Sephiroth. If you added two and carried the four, it wasn't so bad anymore.

**101. One hundred and one kisses  
**He either has bad timing, or, now that Cloud has finally overcome his demons, he's simply making it a habit to give Tifa a thorough kissing every time they get anywhere near each other.


End file.
